New London mayor to run for re-election

New London — Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio took the opportunity Thursday during a press conference on personnel changes in City Hall to confirm he will seek re-election in 2015.

"I filed papers last year and have been actively fundraising," the mayor said after his administrative assistant, Zak Leavy, who is leaving city employment, said he looks forward to working on Finizio's re-election campaign as a private citizen.

Finizio called a press conference outside his office in City Hall Thursday afternoon to announce Leavy's departure Jan. 31 to become communications coordinator for the Connecticut Employees Union Independent, which represents more than 7,000 public employees. Leavy has worked for the mayor since his election in 2011.

David Pressler, who was appointed last October as the city's newly created veterans' liaison, will take over Leavy's $52,000-a-year position. The liaison job was a volunteer position. Pressler also will become the city's director of emergency management, Finizio said.

Last April, Finizio announced that the deputy police chief was taking over the emergency management duties from Reid Burdick, who held the $10,000-a-year position for 26 years. On Thursday, Finizio thanked Deputy Police Chief Peter Reichard for his service, calling him the interim director.

The emergency management job will not carry additional compensation for Pressler, but a portion of his salary will be paid for with emergency management grants, Finizio said.

Pressler, who lives in New London, served in the Marine Corps from 1989 to 2002 and was deployed to Iraq in 1991 and 2002. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish and Arabic.

Finizio took office in December 2011 as the city's first elected mayor in 90 years. He registered as a candidate for re-election in the city clerk's office on May 21, 2013, and has formed a re-election committee. To date, the campaign has a balance of $2,114, according to quarterly financial reports filed in the city clerk's office.

The election for mayor, a four-year position, is scheduled for Nov. 4, 2015.